AP FIle PhotoDetroit Tigers pitcher Jose Valverde is day-to-day with a strained lower back, but he said he expects to pitch this weekend in a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

DETROIT -- Jose Valverde is day-to-day. But he figures a couple days will be enough.

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Wednesday afternoon that Valverde is day-to-day due to a strained lower back. The Tigers' closer left the game Tuesday afternoon in the ninth inning after his back tightened up on him.

Leyland said setup man Joaquin Benoit is likely to fill in for Valverde most of the time, but he wouldn't go as far as to say Benoit would fill the role full-time.

"That depends on how things develop," Leyland said. "That depends on maybe a lineup. I
don't want to just etch him in stone, although he would probably do it
most of the time. But if he did it for a day or two and then they had a
bunch of lefties in the ninth, I could use (Phil) Coke."

Valverde said he had an MRI on Tuesday and that it came back clear. He
said his back felt much better Wednesday than it did a day earlier but added that he isn't prepared to pitch Wednesday night in the series opener against the Minnesota Twins.

"I don't be out for two months, you know what I mean?" Valverde said. "I'll take a couple days and be ready."

Valverde said he had a similar back issue when he pitched for Houston that knocked him out of action for a good chunk of time.

"When I played in Houston, it was a crazy moment," he said. "Right now, it's better.
It's nothing that serious now. It's going to be OK in a couple days."